Sendinblue vs. The Competition: Is It Still the Best Choice for Small Businesses in 2023?

Outcome-first introduction

Start here and you’ll be able to pick the right email marketing tool for your small business by the time you finish this article. Read five minutes and you’ll know whether Sendinblue still gives you the best mix of price, features, and ease-of-use - or whether a competitor is a better fit for your needs.

Why this matters

If you run a small business you can’t afford slow growth, poor deliverability, or surprise bills. Email is still one of the highest-ROI channels you control. Choosing the wrong platform costs time, money, and momentum. This guide compares Sendinblue to the most common alternatives in 2023 and gives a decision framework so you can choose with confidence.

Quick verdict (TL;DR)

• Sendinblue - Best overall value for European small businesses and anyone who wants an all-in-one stack (email + SMS + lightweight CRM) with pay-per-email options.
• ActiveCampaign - Best for advanced automation and CRM-first small businesses.
• Klaviyo - Best for e-commerce stores that need deep product/behavioral segmentation.
• Mailchimp - Easiest for basic users and small stores, but pricier at scale and less privacy-friendly for EU businesses.
• MailerLite - Best cheap-and-simple option with surprisingly capable features for most small sites.
• ConvertKit - Best for creators and solopreneurs focused on simplicity and content-first funnels.

Why Sendinblue still competes strongly in 2023

• Pricing model that charges by email volume (not just contacts) is excellent for businesses with large contact lists but low send frequency. That keeps monthly costs predictable when you email infrequently.
• Built-in SMS, transactional email, and a basic CRM reduce the need for extra subscriptions.
• Strong compliance posture for European privacy laws (GDPR-friendly hosting options).

But it’s not perfect. Automation and advanced segmentation are not as powerful as ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo. Template design and integrations lag some competitors. The right pick depends on your priorities.

How I’m comparing tools (so you can compare them too)

• Pricing model and real monthly cost for typical small-business profiles.
• Core features - automation, segmentation, templates, A/B testing, transactional email, SMS, CRM.
• Integrations and e-commerce support (Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.).
• Deliverability and reputation.
• Ease of use and onboarding for non-technical teams.
• GDPR / privacy and where provider stores data.

Where to find the latest pricing pages (sources)

• Sendinblue pricing: https://www.sendinblue.com/pricing/
• Mailchimp pricing: https://mailchimp.com/pricing/
• ActiveCampaign pricing: https://www.activecampaign.com/pricing
• Klaviyo pricing: https://www.klaviyo.com/pricing
• MailerLite pricing: https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing
• ConvertKit pricing: https://convertkit.com/pricing

Detailed comparison: feature-by-feature

1. Pricing and billing model

• Sendinblue - Charges primarily by emails sent (pay-as-you-go credits available) and offers tiered plans that lift sending limits; contact counts are unlimited on many tiers. This is ideal if you have a large list but send monthly newsletters.

• Mailchimp - Subscriber-based pricing. Free tier is generous for very small lists but costs escalate quickly as your subscriber count grows. Extra fees for advanced features.

• ActiveCampaign - Subscriber-based with multiple tiers geared to automation and CRM capabilities. Cost-effective if you need advanced automation.

• Klaviyo - Subscriber-based, but built specifically for commerce - pricing rises steeply as lists grow. Strong ROI for stores with high LTV per customer.

• MailerLite - Subscriber-based but among the cheapest; simple fixed tiers and good free tier limits.

• ConvertKit - Subscriber and feature-based; built for creators with automation and landing pages as core selling points.

Practical pricing takeaway: If you have many cold or infrequently emailed contacts, Sendinblue’s send-based pricing often beats subscriber-based platforms. If you send many targeted campaigns to smaller, highly engaged lists, subscriber-based platforms like ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo may give more ROI.

2. Automation and segmentation

• Sendinblue - Robust visual workflow builder for common automations (welcome series, birthday emails, simple behavioral triggers). Good for typical small-business flows but limited when you need deeply nested conditional logic.

• ActiveCampaign - The automation leader for SMBs - complex branching, event-based triggers, and tight CRM integration. Choose this if automation is central to your business.

• Klaviyo - Best-in-class behavior-driven segmentation for e-commerce (product views, cart behavior, revenue attribution).

• Mailchimp / MailerLite / ConvertKit - Simpler automation builders; capable for basic sequences and tagging but less suited to highly granular behavior-based flows.

3. E-commerce integrations and commerce features

• Klaviyo - The gold standard for e-commerce analytics and product-level segmentation. Deep Shopify and Magento integrations with revenue tracking.

• Sendinblue - Solid e-commerce integrations (Shopify, WooCommerce) and transactional email, plus SMS. Good for small stores that want an all-in-one billing approach.

• Mailchimp - Good integrations but its commerce feature set has shifted over time. Works fine for many small stores.

• ActiveCampaign - Strong automation around customer lifecycle; integrates with e-commerce via plugins and middleware.

4. Deliverability and reputation

Deliverability depends on sender practices as much as provider reputation. That said:

• Sendinblue invests in deliverability, reputation monitoring, and has European infrastructure which helps EU senders. Many SMBs report solid inbox placement.
• Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign also have strong deliverability programs focused on commerce and lifecycle email.
• Mailchimp historically has good deliverability but can be strict with list hygiene (which can be good for long-term results).

5. Templates, design, and ease of use

• Mailchimp and MailerLite - Very easy drag-and-drop editors and ready templates. Great for users who want to design quickly.
• Sendinblue - Intuitive editor and decent templates. Slightly steeper learning curve for advanced features but friendly for basic campaigns.
• ConvertKit - Minimalist approach - fewer templates, focused on text-first, content-heavy emails.

6. SMS, transactional email, and extras

• Sendinblue - Strong here - bundled SMS, transactional email, and a simple CRM make it an efficient single vendor for small teams.
• Klaviyo - Transactional and SMS via Klaviyo’s commerce-focused channels (SMS extra cost).
• ActiveCampaign - SMS and transactional via add-ons and integrations.

7. Privacy, data residency, and GDPR

• Sendinblue - Based in Europe, GDPR-friendly, offers data residency that appeals to EU businesses.
• Mailchimp - US-based; GDPR-compliant but EU companies sometimes prefer EU-hosted vendors for data certainty.
• Other vendors - Vary by provider; always check data processing addendums and hosting locations.

When Sendinblue is the best choice (typical small-business profiles)

• You have a very large contact list but send occasional newsletters.
• You want an affordable all-in-one stack (email, SMS, transactional email, basic CRM) without buying separate tools.
• You’re an EU-based business that needs strong GDPR compliance or EU data residency.
• You prefer pay-per-email flexibility and predictable low-cost tiers for low-frequency sends.

When a competitor is a better fit

• Choose ActiveCampaign if advanced automation and a CRM-centric workflow are vital.
• Choose Klaviyo if you run e-commerce and need product-level segmentation and revenue attribution.
• Choose Mailchimp if you want the easiest onboarding and a broad set of templates for marketing plus basic analytics.
• Choose MailerLite if you need a no-friction, low-cost platform that covers 80% of typical email needs.
• Choose ConvertKit if you’re a creator or solopreneur who prefers simple, content-first email and landing pages.

Migration and practical considerations

• Export contacts, suppressions, and historical data before switching. Keep unsubscribe lists intact.
• Map automation flows and prioritize the top 2–3 flows to rebuild first (welcome series, transactional receipts, cart abandonment).
• Test deliverability and warm up sending domains if you increase volume or change sending IPs.

Checklist for choosing (5 questions to ask yourself)

1. How many contacts do I have and how often do I email them? (Sendinblue for many contacts + low frequency.)
2. Do I need advanced automation? (ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo.)
3. Am I an e-commerce business needing revenue attribution? (Klaviyo.)
4. Do I want SMS and transactional email bundled? (Sendinblue scores high.)
5. Is EU data residency a requirement? (Prefer EU-based providers like Sendinblue.)

Final recommendation - practical guidance

If your small business needs an affordable, GDPR-friendly, multi-channel platform that handles email, SMS, transactional messages and a light CRM - and you either have a large list or prefer pay-per-email pricing - Sendinblue remains one of the best choices in 2023. It’s particularly strong for European small businesses and anyone who wants fewer vendor subscriptions.

If your business is heavily automation-dependent or e-commerce-first, consider ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo respectively. If you’re on a tight budget and want ultra-simple UI, MailerLite is worth testing.

Make the pick that matches your priorities. The right tool should remove friction, not add complexity. The best choice is the one that lets you send the right message to the right people, at the right cost.

References

• Sendinblue pricing: https://www.sendinblue.com/pricing/
• Mailchimp pricing: https://mailchimp.com/pricing/
• ActiveCampaign pricing: https://www.activecampaign.com/pricing
• Klaviyo pricing: https://www.klaviyo.com/pricing
• MailerLite pricing: https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing
• ConvertKit pricing: https://convertkit.com/pricing